Welcome to Subcon!

She made it into the manor undetected, though she was still on high alert. No sign of the queen, at least. After flitting around for a few minutes, she had an idea, and hurried up to the second floor, which to her relief was as empty and still as the first. If I can get to my body, maybe I can bring myself back to life! It was a long shot, but definitely wort a try!

She found her frozen body, and tried to float past the ice to get back inside, but to no avail. This wasn't just ice, this was ice magic, and unless somebody thawed her out she was stuck as she was. She mourned. She floated there, silently crying tears that never came. Suddenly a purple hand reached out of some nearby shadows and snatched her up! Snatcher's upper half floated out of the shadow, holding the squirming soul in his hand, “I can't believe you got away!”, he hissed, trying to keep his voice a whisper, lest SHE hear him, “No more games! You're coming back now!” He started to pull back into the shadows, but the soul wriggled and squirmed hard enough to slip out of his grasp and flew back to the ice statue, flitting about it like some insect. Snatcher gave her an irritated look before taking a good long look at the newest addition to Vanessa's collection, “Oh! This was you! Sorry, but there's no way to unfreeze you in here, and I don't have the time to drag your frozen corpse out of this hell.” Before he could continue, Vanessa's voice rang out down a nearby corridor, “I kNoW WhErE yOu arE hIdIiNg~” The corner nearest them started to glow an ominous red; Snatcher turned to the soul, “COME BACK WITH ME, DO YOU REALLY WANNA DIE BY HER HANDS?” Her soul hovered for a bit, indecisive, before Snatcher added, “SHE CAN EVEN FREEZE SOULS, AND THAT IS A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH!”

At that very moment, Vanessa made her way into the hall, seeing her intruders, “ThErE YoU ArE~” she singsonged as she quickly ran at them both. The soul panicked and quickly flew right into Snatcher, who quickly caught it. The specter looked at Vanessa with concern, before glaring at the wench and vanishing back into the shadows.

Snatcher and the girl's soul rematerialized right by his tree. The little soul didn't try to run away this time, and Snatcher carried her into his home, depositing the soul on the table near the fallen bottle. The soul looked up at him, waiting. She knew he was hungry, she knew she couldn't run away again, and she had finally accepted that this was how she was going to go out.

But nothing happened.

Snatcher rubbed the back of his neck, looking away before finally meeting the soul's gaze, “LOOK...I MAY HAVE ACTED HASTY EARLIER. YOU'RE STILL UNDER CONTRACT UNTIL YOU CAN NO LONGER FULFILL THE TERMS. ALL YOU NEED IS A BODY! The soul looked up at him, hopeful. He seemed to know what she was thinking, “SORRY, BUT YOUR MORTAL BODY IS GONE. I'M NOT SENDING MY MINIONS INTO THAT MANOR TO RETRIEVE YOUR HOLLOW HUSK. TELL YOU WHAT, I'LL MAKE YOU A NEW BODY!”

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As Snatcher sat in his chair, sewing together fabric with considerable ease considering his claws, he spoke up, “YOU'RE ACTUALLY QUITE LUCKY, YOU KNOW THAT?” He glanced over at the table, where Abigail's soul was trapped again in the jar. She looked back at him as he explained, “THAT VICTIM WHO FELL INTO MY TRAP EARLIER ABSOLUTELY REFUSED TO SIGN MY CONTRACT. GAVE THEM A COUPLE CHANCES, TOO, BUT THEY WERE STUBBORN. ANYWAYS THEIR LOSS GAVE ME THE POWER TO RESCUE YOU FROM THE MANOR AND EVEN EXTEND YOUR CONTRACT A LITTLE LONGER! HOW THOUGHTFUL OF THEM!

THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS I NEED SOULS, AND YOU'RE THE BEST BAIT I'VE EVER HAD!” At that point he was finished with the doll-like body, and floated over to Abigail, letting her out of the jar. He helped her fly into the minion body and gave her a few moments to try out her new limbs before she spoke up, her voice now identical to the other minions, “Bait? Can't you just call me Abigail?”

“HER? OH, THAT NUISANCE? SHE'S DEAD NOW! YOU'RE JUST BAIT! HAHAHAHA!” In a flare of blue fire, a new contract poofed into thin air right before her.

“BUT BEFORE YOU GET BACK TO WORK, THERE ARE SOME CONDITIONS UNDER THIS NEW ARRANGEMENT THAT YOU NEED TO AGREE TO.”

The contract was basically the same, bring new souls to Subcon (with the same consequences should she fail), however there were new notes and fine print to consider. Snatcher had to imbue the doll body with some of his own powers to make it habitable for a soul, but that also meant he would be constantly aware of the doll's actions as well.

“I'LL BE ABLE TO SEE EVERYTHING YOU SEE, AND HEAR EVERYTHING YOU SAY AND HEAR.”

“So I give up my freedom,” she pondered a moment,  “and the alternative?”

Snatcher quickly snatched her out soul right out of the doll's hood. His grip wasn't tight, but she couldn't escape. “NO SOUL LEAVES MY FOREST, BAIT. NOW,” the contract floated back up to her, still in Snatcher's grasp, “WHAT'S IT GONNA BE?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quite a long time had passed since then. Her contract was kept in a container tied around her middle with a ribbon. She spent her days luring many new victims to the forest, and watched as many more were lured by the other Subconites. At first she tried to justify her actions. She was only bringing them into the forest, if they could escape, that wasn't on her. She did try to warn others, though. She knew that Snatcher saw and heard everything that she did, so she couldn't outright explain to the intruders just why they should turn back. Instead, she spoke in cryptic words, which only managed to further confuse the lost souls. Whenever she could venture out of the woods, she would spread rumors about the shadowy Subcon specter who would snatch your soul and swallow it whole! Yet people continued to come.

Things continued along like this until one eventful day. Snatcher was off setting new traps. Bait was hanging around the tree with a fellow Subconite. As she was making small talk, they both noticed a young girl. Where she had come from was anybody's guess; it was like she dropped out of the sky! The child wore a colorful outfit and had a top hat adorned upon her head. Both minions stopped chatting and watched the hatted child run around Snatcher's tree, until she stopped, finally noticing them.

The other minion immediately took off down the path, their cue to lead their newest victim to the closest trap. The child turned to look at her.

Now after so long, Abigail had begun to be numb towards all this. Nobody ever listened to her warnings. But this was different. This was a child. She knew Snatcher didn't care, and would take her soul if he got his claws on her, and peck it she didn't want a child to die because of her!

Yet she knew if she said anything, she'd be next on the chopping block. So as the child approached, all she could say was

“Found your way here already?

Abigail awoke with a start and quickly shot up, only to hit something and recoiled. As the panic started to melt away, she took pause to collect her thoughts. Was that a dream? She thought back only to be reminded of the freezing cold, the heavy atmosphere, the pure fear she had felt. She mentally shook her head: there was no way that was just a nightmare! It was then that she noticed that she was actually in Snatcher's home! Did he save me? But why would he do that? She didn't see him, and looked around before realizing a few things. First, she felt weird. Like something was off about her, but she couldn't place it. Second, anytime she tried to move she would hit some sort of barrier. Indeed, it looked like there was some odd glint in the air. She did a 360 turn and noticed that behind her was a wall of wood, and to either side of her were oversized objects like books and blank papers...

An idea clicked in her mind, and though it made no sense at all that it could happen, it also was the only thing that did make sense of what was going on.

She was in a jar. On a shelf. In Snatcher's home.

Her soul was in a jar. On a shelf. In Snatcher's home.

I...I really did die...and because Snatcher has my soul, I'm now where my soul is...part of her tried to rationalize that there was no way she could be dead and still be conscious, but it did explain why she felt odd, seeing as how she didn't have a body anymore. It explained why she couldn't move around a lot, being trapped in a jar. It also explained the giant objects; from a soul's point-of-view everything was bigger.

There was no time to let the fact that she was dead sink in before she remembered that her contract was basically up, so her next thoughts focused on how to escape. Glancing up to the top of the jar, she found a cork keeping her from flying out. Can't escape that way...although I bet if I could knock this jar off the shelf, it would shatter and then I'd be free!

It was all she had going for her, so she started to hit the front of the jar. Being a soul...a ghost?-She'd worry about the technicals later-ramming the jar didn't hurt. The first few times didn't seem to do much, though after giving it a really hard shove, it began to wobble. Just a bit, but it was something! Empowered by her newfound hope, she kept ramming the jar, making it wobble harder and harder

until it fell

right into Snatcher's clutches.

“YOU DIDN'T LAST LONG! WHEN MY MINIONS SAID YOU HAD GONE TO THE MANOR, I KNEW IT WOULD ONLY BE A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE SHE GOT YOU!” Her soul sadly looked up at him, hoping he had a way to fix this. Hoping for another chance. For more time. For a miracle.

He wasn't meeting her gaze, instead looking away, lost in thought, “BUT AT THIS POINT YOU'RE NOT USEFUL TO ME ANYMORE...EXCEPT...” he perked up, looking back at her with a smirk, “I HAVE GOTTEN FAMISHED.”

At that the soul started to frantically ram itself around the bottle, making it almost tip before Snatcher tightened his grip, “NOT GETTING AWAY, I'M AFRAID! BOTTOM'S UP!” and he uncorked the bottle and tilted it towards his open mouth. Her soul was slipping along the smooth walls of the jar, her voice a silent desperate cry, sob, scream as she slid closer and closer to the hungry spirit-

“boss! Boss!” a Subconite yelled, running up to the tree! “an intruder just fell into that trap past the swamp!”

The bottle was turned right-side up, her soul sliding back to the bottom, as Snatcher looked over at the minion. That trap was old, it wouldn't last long, “GO AND MAKE SURE THEY DON'T ESCAPE. I'LL MEET YOU THERE!” The little shadow saluted and scurried off back down the vine. Snatcher turned back to her soul, “I SHOULD MAKE SURE I HAVE ANOTHER ERRAND BOY LINED UP!”, he placed the bottle on a nearby table, “DON'T WORRY, I'LL BE BACK! And with that, he slipped into the shadows.

She knew an opportunity when she saw one, and immediately started to ram into the bottle, making it shake. She kept at it until finally, the jar fell over, and, since Snatcher left without re-corking the thing, she flew out of it. She knew she couldn't stay here, if Snatcher caught her it would be all over! But where to go...oh what did it matter, anywhere but here!

She flew out of the tree, paused for a moment, then flew up to the very very top to get a vantage point of the forest. I can NOT let that peckin specter find me. I need to know where he is first, then avoid that area at all costs! She had been in such a panicked state of mind that she hadn't heard what the minion had said to Snatcher, so she had no clue where he could be. From the top of the tree, which was actually the top of a giant mushroom, Subcon forest lay out before her, the cursed night sky touching the trees at the edge of the forest, not even letting in daylight from the canopy. She could see every part of the forest from here, but no sign of Snatcher or his weird purple contract-zone thing. I could try to make it back to Mafia Town...sticking to the treetops should keep me out of his sight...

It was the best course of action she could think of, so the little soul flew off in the direction of the shoreline, making sure to keep a constant eye out for the shadow. She had gone a bit of a ways when she happened to fly past a minion, who immediately reached out and grabbed her. “You're the latest contractor, aren't you,” it was more a statement than a question, “sorry, but the Boss needs every soul he can get! No one escapes from Subcon.” Abigail's eyes went wide as the little minion started to scurry down the tree, hopping down branches like it was nothing before starting to head back towards Snatcher's home. Abigail tried to escape, but the little one had quite a good grip on her soul.

Her only chance of escape came once the Subconite had made its way back into Snatcher's home and was reaching for the jar that up until recently she had been trapped in. With it's focus distracted, she managed to make a sudden jerk and fly out of its grasp. “Hey!” the minion called out, grabbing for the soul, which only flitted about sporadically before shooting out of the tree and down the dirt path.

As Abigail flew, any Subconites she passed immediately called out to her or tried to grab her, and after she managed to evade them they gave chase. She soon had a small crowd after her when she reached a fork in the path. One way lead to a broken bridge and the other continued around a bend...down which she could see even more minions headed her way. With no other options, she turned and flew over the bridge...

...Only to find herself infront of the icy wall that separated Subcon from the ice manor. Looking back, she saw the Subconites at the edge of the broken bridge. A small group of them ran off...either there was another way around to her or...they were going to get Snatcher.

She ran.

She knew it was pointless. She knew it didn't matter. She knew he still had her soul, and soon enough would just eat it, and she would just fall over dead were she was.

She knew her contract was almost up, but she wasn't sure if it was tomorrow, the next day, or even today. She was suddenly reminded of her choice of wording from before their history lesson, in which she basically told Snatcher she was giving up her soul next. 'I brought myself', what was I thinking!? Snatcher could easily twist those words and just void the contract at any time. She pictured the shadow specter burning up the contract before taking that jar, popping open the lid, grabbing her soul and-she shook her head to clear her mind, but that only allowed panic to take its place. Facing her own mortality, and the stress of all that had happened, was finally getting to her. It had all happened so fast before, but now that the time was finally coming up, she was finally starting to realize just how pecked she really was.

She was so certain of her own demise that every breath, every step she thought would be her last, but she kept breathing, kept running, past a gap in the firewall, past some random Subconites, until the forest began to change. Frost crunched underfoot, then snow. The air grew colder. And soon it was frigid, cutting her throat as she panted, adrenaline pushing her forward. Finally she came to a stop before a wall of sheer ice...with a small gap in it. Through the haze of fear clouding her brain she could vaguely remember the mention of the Queen who lived beyond this ice. She hesitated, until she heard one of the little minions calling out to her. Heart racing back up, she dipped into the gap and found herself in an icy hall full of obstacles.

As she made her way through the passageway, the cold air cleared her mind and she was able to focus a bit. She was surprised that she was still alive. Either Snatcher was going to wait out the contract, which didn't seem likely, or that minion was calling to bring her back to Snatcher. Probably so he can torment her a little more before snuffing out her life like a candle. Well, if he wants to wait for me to come back to finish me off, he's gonna have some waiting to do.

It was at this point that she realized that she had left the icy cavern and had come across a giant open snowy field. In the distance she could barely make out a large house-no. A manor.

Well, queen or no queen, its got to be warmer in there than it is out here, she reasoned, who knows? Maybe she's gained some clarity sine this all went down? Maybe all she needs is some company. It was either go to the manor, freeze to death out here, or go back into the forest and run into Snatcher (which was out of the question). Squaring her shoulders against the icy wind, she trudged her way up to the manor.

As she climbed the steps to the front door, she noticed there was a small snowdrift blocking the entrance. Luckily it wasn't too deep, and with enough effort she managed to get the front door open enough to slip inside, the wind closing the door right behind her.

She turned and was surprised to see actual lights on in the corridor. The place was a little dusty, and there was a cracked mirror down the hall, but overall it looked like the queen was aware enough to keep the place somewhat presentable. Abigail shuddered, drawing her jacket closer around her. Ice queen. Huh? Makes sense she wouldn't turn on the heat. She even noticed a solid chunk of ice off to the side. Passing by it, she headed down to the other end of the hall. So far, she hadn't heard a peep from anyone. Maybe the queen passed away after all this time, leaving this big place abandoned and left to time...

Feeling a bit more bold, she knocked on the door at the far left end of the hallway. “Hello?” she called out, though she spoke barely above a murmur. The atmosphere in this place was stifling! Hearing no reply, she made her way into the room.

She found herself in a parlor. There was a pool table, a home bar...and a lot of ice statues. This time she paused to look at the statues in more detail. One looked uncannily like a Mafia man, though why anyone would sculpt abject terror onto his face was anyone's guess. There was also an old man, and even one of Snatcher's minions! As Abigail stood there, pondering why every sculpture looked to be in terror, her mind finally clicked together and she stepped back in horror, muffling a small scream.

These weren't ice sculptures! These were people! They had been frozen!

“sOuNdS lIkE I hAvE a ViSiToR~” a terrifying female voice singsonged from the hallway she was just in. A new panic rose to the front of her mind and she spun around, looking for a place to run, a place to hide, and then she spotted another door! As the door connecting to the hallway began to open, Abigail ran to the other door, yanked that door open to find a stairwell leading up, and ran up it 2-at-a-time, not even stopping to catch her breath on the landing. Gotta hide! Gotta hide! Her mind mantra'd as she quickly made her way down the hall, trying every room.

Queen's bedroom. NO WAY!

Bathroom: No hiding spots. There was another door with a big lock on it, so that wasn't going to happen. A...nursery.

Abigail stood there for a moment, before she heard the queen, “iT gEtS sO lOnElY, sO LONELY!” Closing the door to the disturbing nursery, she turned and found that the hallway she was in lead to a dead end.

“NO!” with a desperate cry, she ran to the end of the hall, where a window gave her a view from the 2nd story. Maybe she could break the window and leap? It was a risk, but there was also a lot of snow that could cushion her fall. She turned back to find something, only to have the queen turn the corner at that moment. Or, at least what Abigail suspected was the queen. The dark magic had warped her, only leaving a dark mass with piercing red eyes in its wake. It even altered the very air, which made the walls ripple and a blaring siren ring in Abigail's ears. She instinctively covered them and flinched, before snapping back to the danger at hand, and looked back up to see the queen racing right towards her! Abigail screamed and tried to dodge the queen, and she almost made it-! Only to have the queen whip around and grab her by the hood of her jacket.

Abigail ran until she could see the outskirts of the forest, the desert that separated it from Dead Bird Studios in the distance. Slowing to a walk, she spotted a nearby moss-covered boulder and took a seat to try and gather her thoughts. In just a few days her contract would be up. If she wanted to save her soul, she would have to keep bringing others to Snatcher. It's not fair! Abigail huffed, all I wanted was to see these woods, try to learn about it's history. Is that too much to ask?

With a sigh, she hopped off the boulder and made her way back toward Dead Bird Studios. Maybe after getting a good night's sleep she could focus better on what to do next...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking past the entrance to the studios, she glanced in, only to see a gaggle of owls around something. Letting herself inside, she walked up to the lot of them “hey! What's going on?” she asked casually. There was a group gasp as the owls noticed her, before they all scattered with cries of “its her!” “Help!” and the occasional “hoot!”. It took a moment before she realized that all the owls had fled further into the studio, leaving her alone with what, or more precisely who, the owls had been so enraptured by.

“Conductor? You're alive?!” she was pleasantly surprised to see him, and he didn't look too bad for someone who was flung sky-high out of a forest. Sadly, Conductor didn't return her warm welcome. “Aye, no thanks ta yew. How could yew?! Leadin' innocents to their doom?! I trusted yew, I even let ye become an honorary bird!” Abigail tried to explain herself, but Conductor held up a wing to stop, “don' try ter explain yerself. Dat ghost already did. Now yew go back an tell dat peck-neck of a spook dat no bird is ever goin' ter be steppin foot in Subcon Forrrrest again!”

Abigail wanted to argue. She wanted to say this wasn't her fault, but she knew, deep down, that it was. If she had never went to Subcon, she wouldn't be in this situation. Feeling guilty and shameful, she turned on her heel and headed for the door. Conductor called after her, “An' yew are no longer an honorary bird, neither! So don' come back!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the incident with the Conductor, she had gone back to Mafia town to try and get back to her old home...only to have to pull away from the docks to avoid the Mafia trying to attack. Apparently the boss still had it out for her. Feeling rejected, she went back to the only place that still seemed to welcome her: Subcon.

On the banks of the forest she stood, looking out over the ocean. What now? She pulled her contract out of her jacket I only have a few more days before this is up. She had never felt so trapped, so hopeless. She gave a shuddering sigh so is this it then? Do I just wait for the contract to end? I'm no longer welcome at Dead Bird or Mafia town, and I don't know anyone in Alpine or the Metro either...noticing the sun was setting, she rolled the contract back up and started to head off into the woods. She would spend the night here and in the morning collect her thoughts and make a plan. She soon found a decrepit and abandoned tree house, which she climbed into. Though old, it was still pretty stable, and she soon let exhaustion take her.

The problem with Subcon is that it is always night. So when Abigail woke, she had no idea what day or time it was anymore. Despair started to settle in, what does it matter what day it is? I can't bring anyone else to Snatcher. She took the contract out again, this pecking paper is going to be the end of me!

She absent-mindedy glanced at the contract again before something caught her eye. It wasn't a loophole that would save her, not even a bit of fine print she could tweak if she knew the ins-and-outs of law (which she didn't). It was simply an addendum, one that she had personally requested and forgot about. A ghost of a smile on her face, she left the tree house and headed for Snatcher's. Hopefully he would have calmed down by now.

She actually found the specter out in the forest, way up in the trees. She knew he could sense her, and waited for him to come down, which he did momentarily, holding a Subconite in his grasp. He placed the minion on the ground and it took off the moment its feet touched the earth, “thanks boss!”

Snatcher gave a small wave back before turning to Abigail, clasping his claws together in eagerness, “SO WHO DID YOU BRING ME THIS TIME?” Well, he seems to be in a good mood, Abigail thought, also noticing that his wounds had healed, hopefully this'll work...

“I brought myself.”

“GIVING UP? SUCH A SHAME.“

“Actually,” she said, holding up her contract, “you owe me a history lesson. Remember that addendum?”

Snatcher scowled, “THAT BIRD FRIEND OF YOURS DIDN'T COUNT.”

Feeling bold, Abigail countered. “actually, 'after the next delivery of a person or persons into the forest, the Snatcher will impart his knowledge of Subcon history to the contractor.'” she read off her contract. “You might have not gotten Conductor's soul, but I still delivered!” Snatcher glared at her and she triumphantly smirked back. She had him on this, and she knew it. It was all she had going for her, this whole thing happened because she wanted to get some history, and peck it all if these were her last days alive she was going to get what she was owed!

The ghost was the one to break the stare down with a laugh, “YOU'RE TRULY A NUISANCE, YOU KNOW THAT? BUT HEY, A DEAL'S A DEAL. FOLLOW ME.”

Abigail followed the shadow specter to his tree home. While Snatcher looked through a small bookcase, she took a seat on the futon. Picking a worn leather-bound book without a title, Snatcher floated over and took a seat in his chair. “I'M GOING TO READ TO YOU A LITTLE BIT FROM MY JOURNAL. KEEP IN MIND, THIS FOREST HAS BEEN MOSTLY QUIET FOR A VERY LONG TIME, SO THERE'S NOT MUCH TO TELL AFTER A CERTAIN POINT.” With that, Snatcher sat back, flipped open the book, and began to read:

*************************

When I first laid eyes upon Subcon, all I saw was white. The blizzard that had wiped out the area had left its mark. Being a spirit with fire attributes, I was able to melt away the snow and frost.

At first it was only me and the forest, and I enjoyed the solitude. Then, slowly, other spirits started to appear. [As if on cue, a single dweller floated in to listen. Snatcher gave it a brief nod before continuing] Turns out that these were the souls of the children of Subcon, who had perished in the blizzard. Lost, confused and frightened, these masked dwellers started following me around.

It was also around this time that another being made themselves known: Moonjumper. [“Moonjumper?” Abigail asked. Snatcher sighed, “YEAH, AND LET ME TELL YOU, HE WAS A THORN IN MY SIDE FOR A LONG TIME!” Clearing his throat, he continued] It became obvious very early on that 'Moonjumper' was actually the prince of Subcon. He had also perished in the storm, but his will to live kept him around as another spirit. Just like I have fire magic, the prince had powers to: those of manipulation. Forcing others to do work against their will. [“Wait a minute!” Abigail called out, “you do the exact same thing!” “AH, BUT YOU'RE WRONG! I GAVE YOU A CHOICE, DIDN'T I?” “Some choice, sign or die,” she huffed. “YEAH, WELL, MOONJUMPER WOULDN'T HAVE GIVEN YOU ANY CHOICE AT ALL. ANYWAYS,” he went back to the story]

Well, Moonjumper wasn't too happy about me taking over, you see. Lucky for me, though, he was a wimp! Hardly any magical strength at all. Unless he could manipulate me, he wasn't going to win any battle for this place, and I'm too powerful to fall for his mind tricks. The Dwellers, however, are much easier to control. Again, luck was on my side that the little children's spirits knew better than to go near that creep. Yep, for the moment, it appeared as if Subcon would be mine with hardly a fuss.

What I didn't plan on, however, was that the queen would still be alive....more or less. Basically a mass of dark magic had warped the queen and caused the storm, but back then I didn't know that. [“You couldn't sense something like that?” “SUBCON BACK THEN WAS A MESS OF DARK ENERGY. THE AREA I HAD THAWED FOR THE DWELLERS AND MYSELF WAS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE THE MAGIC WAS SOMEWHAT STABLE.”] Imagine my surprise when Moonjumper and the queen launched an attack. Nearly destroyed my part of the forest. It turned out that the dead prince, weak as he was with magic, was a formidable strategist. He used the queen's powers to attack, and I could barely keep them at bay. This kept up for some time, they would attack and I'd hold them off, but I knew my power wouldn't last forever. Fighting them took energy, and I had no way to replenish it.

It was around that time when some fool wandered into my forest. I can't quite remember how he died, but once I consumed his soul I felt my powers restoring! I suddenly had a plan, but it would take time.

I gathered all the Dwellers and made them each an offer: join me and help me save my forest. Most of them agreed, some didn't, but that was fine. I had more then enough help, and with contracts signed and tidied away, I set to work making those lost souls new bodies.

[Again, as if on cue, a small gaggle of Subconites wandered in. “Are you telling her about us, Boss?” one asked. “Oh, I like this part” another added. “YEAH YEAH, HUSH. NOW, WHERE WAS I...” Snatcher continued as the small group sat on the ground around the futon]

With my new minions, the next part came easy. All they had to do was bring more souls to Subcon, and I would take care of the rest. It really only took a couple weeks to amass a suitable amount. I challenged the Moon creep to another battle, and he agreed, unaware of what I had planned.

That battle was one for the history books...too bad there aren't any! Structures were blasted, foliage frozen, but I still had the upper hand. I had become so powerful that I was able to obliterate the dead prince so hard he was sent into the Horizon, which is a type of realm between here and the stars above. [“So...he's still up there?” Abigail asked, pointing. Snatcher nodded, “UNFORTUNATLEY. ACTUALLY KILLING OFF A GHOST, EVEN A WEAK MAGIC USER LIKE HIM, WOULD TAKE TOO MUCH TIME AND ENERGY, SO THIS WAS THE BEST SOLUTION. EVEN NOW HE COULD GRAB A SOUL FROM THE HORIZON, AND USE ITS POWER TO RE-MANIFEST. THAT'S WHY MY MINIONS AND I ARE WELL AWARE OF EVERY SOUL THAT ENTERS MY FOREST.” With that, he went back to the book]

The only loose end left was the queen. Unfortunately, most of my power had been spent banishing Moonjumper, and by that time word had started to get around to stay away from my forest, so there was a drastic drop in the number of souls I could obtain. Turns out that wasn't going to be a problem. See, though the queen had a lot of magic, her mind had been twisted and warped into a fine point of insanity. So, without Moonjumper to control and command her, she couldn't do anything. But she was still unstable and had to be dealt with. I managed to trick her into setting up barriers around her manor, and that's where she remains, trapped in those icy halls.

***********************************************

Snatcher closed the book, the Subconites got up and scampered out with the occasional, “thanks for the story, Boss!” called out, while the Dwellers floated out silently. Abigail sat there for a few moments, thinking about all that she had just heard. What an amazing story! It made sense why Snatcher took souls, it was in order to protect the forest-his home-and it's inhabitants from attack.

Without a proper plan, Abigail was hesitant to tell the Conductor what happened, so instead she made her way over to Grooves' side of the studio and waited for the recording to be done for the day. Once she saw Grooves wasn't busy, she approached.

“Hey Darlin',” the penguin said, “how's it goin?”

“Not too good. Suffice to say I need a place to stay for a week or two.”

“Not a problem!” the DJ answered with a flourish, “you're welcome to stay in one of my many apartments. Here!” he wrote down the address on a piece of paper, “door's always open, so make yourself at home!”

With a sincere thanks, she headed out, making sure to avoid the Conductor as she did so.

The next week and a half went by uneventfully, yet far too fast for Abigail. Wracking her brain for days on end yielded no solutions to her situation. Between Snatcher's traps, those minions of his and her contract, she would either have to keep bringing others to meet their end or......or......Snatcher will eat my soul instead.

Abigail didn't want to continue bringing others to Subcon, but she also didn't want to give up her life (and subsequent afterlife) to a hungry spirit either.

It was the very same day that someone came knocking. Figuring that DJ Grooves needed something, she got up “hold on, I'm coming!” and opened the door to find...no one.

Until she heard a huff and looked down to see Conductor. “Oh, Conductor,” she stuttered, moving aside so he could come in, “what brings you out here? Can I get you a coffee?”

Conductor made his way to a kitchen chair, “na tanks, lass, I won' be stayin long. I only came ter see if yew had seen dat owl I had accompn'y yew to the forest. Haven't seen 'im since yew left.” Well, the cat's out of the bag now,' Abigail thought, taking a seat across from the bird. She thought for a moment, before deciding on a half truth, “I'm sorry Conductor, but we got separated while in the forest. Poor thing saw a ghost and took off running. I've been trying to round up a search party,” she pressed on, “but everyone's hesitant to go into Subcon.” “Useless owls,” the Conductor muttered, “everyone knows de forest is haunted, yew'd expect ta see spirits!” Abigail didn't know how to respond, so she left the bird to his own thoughts.

That turned out to be a mistake however, when he suddenly perked his head up, “I got it lass! I'll go wit' yew to Subcon, and together we'll find that peckin' owl!” Trying to stop this ball from rolling any farther she sputtered out, “why not send me with another? You must be very busy.”

“Ah appreciate ta thought, but I made up me mind. I'm not one ter abandon one o' me own owls!”

With that, he headed for the door, stopping in the entry way, “'Sides, I still want ter scope out da place fer my new movie idea. Well, I'll come git yew in a few days, lass!” And with that, he was out. Abigail sank into her chair, putting her head in her hands. What was she gonna do now? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Try as she might, Abigail could not convince the bird director against this, and before she knew it the two of them were heading for Subcon. As they crossed the threshold into the forest, she wondered if she should at least prepare him for what would possibly probably happen.

“Listen, about that express owl...I...I didn't want to say this but h-he was...spirited away...?” Even though the Conductor didn't have any eyes that she could see, she could swear he was raising an eyebrow at her. “Now lass, it's okae if ye feel guilty abou' loosin' da epress owl, bu really? Blamin' it on ghosts? Dem spooks an' stuff cannae hurt a fly, let alone 'spirit away' an owl!” She was about to retort when she spotted one of those little Subconites running for them. Panicking she grabbed the bird and did an awkward half step and a stumble, avoiding the little one but loosing her balance. Still keeping a hold on the Conductor, who was sputtering in confusion about what was happening, they both wound up tumbling back into a shrub bed, and in the struggle to escape that they both found themselves rolling down a small incline. Once they came to a stop Abigail sat up, trying to get her bearings. A small group of Subconites ran down towards them, and the were...cheering?

“Yay! You did it!”

“Your first trap!”

“A bit different but hey, whatever works for you.”

“Congrats!”

The Conductor sat up “wha'?” Abigail also tried to figure out what was happening before she realized where they were: right in a ring of purple thorns.

Right before the trap sprang, one of the Subconites shouted out, “Boss says good work!”

“Work?” Conductor questioned before letting out a squawk as the thorns sprung up and over them both. The scenery seemed to melt away to reveal a purple dimension of sorts...the same one Abigail had first been in when she had initially tried to run from the shadow specter only a short time ago...

Snatcher rose out of the ground with a maniacal cackle, “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! FOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL!!!!!!!! YOU WANDERED INTO MY DOMAIN AND NOW YOU MUST PAY THE PRICE!” He spotted Abigail, and his expression lightened up, “SO MY MINIONS WERE RIGHT! YOU ACTUALLY MANAGED TO LURE A VICTIM INTO ONE OF MY TRAPS ALL ON YOUR OWN!”

Conductor turned to her, “wha' does he mean?” Snatcher replied for her, “OH, DIDN'T SHE TELL YOU? SHE'S UNDER CONTRACT BY YOURS TRULY TO BRING FRESH SOULS INTO MY FOREST, AND I MUST SAY SHE'S BEEN AT IT WITH GUSTO!”

The Conductor paled, “then...that express owl...”

“AN OWL, A COUPLE OF THOSE MAFIA GUYS...,” Snatcher counted off his claws,”AND NOW, YOU. LIKE I SAID, MY LATEST CONTRACTOR HAS BEEN DELIVERING NEW SOULS TO ME LEFT AND RIGHT! GOOD JOB, NUISANCE!” Snatcher cackled, towering above the bird. Conductor turned to her, “How could yew dew this, lassie?!” He sounded so hurt. She didn't want this, but what could she even do? She couldn't even bring herself to speak, as she looked away. “SHE MAKES QUITE GOOD BAIT, DOESN'T SHE?” Snatcher mused, before focusing again on the Conductor, “NOW THEN...”

“Ai'm not goin down witout a fight!” Conductor yelled, pulling out way too many knives. Snatcher just laughed, “YOU CAN'T HURT ME!” “Wannae bet?!” Conductor contested, throwing a knife. It passed right though the specter, who only smirked back at the bird. He reached for Conductor, but the owl(?) dodged and threw another knife...which again passed through the ghost. “STAY STILL!” Snatcher commanded, throwing a blue flame at the bird. Conductor saw his chance and swung a knife through the inferno, the bade becoming ablaze with blue fire. Conductor swung the knife at the ghoul, and this time it actually cut him. With an echoing howl of pain Snatcher reached for the Conductor, only to have the bird turn and slice the specter's hand, which he quickly pulled back with a grimace. With a snarl he cried out “THAT'S IT!” and snatched up the Conductor by the back of his coat. The bird struggled to stab the hand that held him, but stopped when he realized he was dangling right infront of Snatcher's face...and the ghost appeared to had grown in his rage, the purple void dissolving around them as he did so. “YOU SOUL ISN'T EVEN WORTH THE EFFORT. GET OUT OF MY FOREST AND STAY OUT.” With that, he reared back the arm holding the bird and threw him over the trees and out of sight.

Abigail just stood there, mouth agape. Snatcher was slowly shrinking back to his regular size, his cuts glowing as yellow as his eyes. She quickly snapped to her senses once her brain registered that: the Conductor was safe, Snatcher was now both mad and hurt, and she never got him to tally off the Conductor before hand...but maybe she could still make it work. She did bring him straight to Snatcher, after all. It wasn't her fault that it didn't work out in the spook's favor.

Abigail awoke to sunlight pouring through her window onto her face. She sat up, the paper she had been using as a pillow sticking to her cheek. She pulled it off, glancing it over. It was a list of things she had to do, and a few notes to think about while devising her next trip to Subcon. Her to-do list comprised of meeting with the Mafia Boss and telling him the bad news about the fellow Mafia man, meeting with the Conductor to tell him the bad news about the owl, and manage to convince not 1, but 2 others to follow her into the forest. And once they were in Subcon, she would have to find a way to deal with those...those beings that worked for Snatcher. At the thought of the shadowy specter, she remembered what he had said the first time they met, 'THERE USED TO BE SEARCH PARTIES'. An idea forming in her head, Abigail quickly left, headed for Mafia HQ.

“And just where have you been? And where is the one who went with you?” The boss wasted no time interrogating her the moment she arrived in his throne room. She squared her shoulders; the Mafia boss was intimidating, sure, but next to Snatcher his temper was almost laughable. She wasn't afraid of speaking up to him, “I've been in that forest you said I could go to. We got separated, and I've spent most of my time trying to find him. Those woods are very dark and very big, so eventually I had to give up and come back, which I did, last night.” She lied. But what did it matter? He wouldn't have believed the truth, that's for sure.

The boss, who had gotten off his throne to scold her, sat back down to think. “This is not good, a Mafia member lost in those woods...he is not the first.”

This was Abigail's moment; she approached the Boss, “why don't we send a search party out? Just a small one? Me and, oh, maybe 2 other mafia?”

“You want to go back?!” The Boss all but shouted, “That forest has claimed many of my men!”

“What about me, then?” She argued, “I made it out!”

Silence followed as the Boss pondered this. Abigail stared him down, waiting. Finally, the Boss nodded, “I will give you 1 last chance. Go back to the woods and find him. However,” he held up a finger, “you may only bring 1 other Mafia member with you. And it shall be 1 that I choose!” Abigail gave a slight bow, “understood,” and walked away.

'That didn't go nearly as bad as I thought it would!' she thought. Knowing the Boss, she would probably find her 'search party' waiting outside her home either tonight or tomorrow morning. She considered going to Dead Bird Studios and dealing with the Conductor, maybe doing the same song and dance and getting another Express Owl to join in, but ultimately decided against it. It was risky enough going back with even 1 extra person. Getting a jump on learning some history was not worth risking the lives of these people. If it weren't for the contract, she wouldn't even be bringing others in the first place! That reminded her, she had to come up with some way to keep both Snatcher and his...entourage at bay long enough to mark her progress on the contract and get the Mafia man she was bringing with her out of the woods alive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It seemed like in no time at all, Abigail was back on her speedboat, Mafia man in tow, with Subcon on the horizon. She had a plan on how to evade the forest's inhabitants...or at least not alert them to her accomplice. Once the boat pulled up on the outskirts of the forest, she tied it up but halted the Mafia. “You stay right here, ok? I'm going to retrace my steps to where I last saw Mafia, then come back for you. I need you to stay here and guard my boat.” The Mafia gave a gruff nod, and she took off at a brisk pace deeper into the woods.

'This had better work,' she thought to herself as she retraced her footsteps. She had hoped that the smaller beings, and maybe even Snatcher himself, wouldn't go into direct sunlight. Subcon was in perpetual night, after all, so it made sense. The crackle of fire interrupted her thoughts. It was either more fire spirits or...”the firewall,” she gasped, coming across the beginnings of it. Her latest contract, just like her initial one, had said she was to stay inside the firewalls, so that must mean these lead to Snatcher's home. Perfect! She broke into a light jog, adrenaline and anxiety fueling her need to get to the middle of the forest as soon as she could...

She came upon the clearing with the giant hollowed tree much faster than she had anticipated, and she paused to catch her breath. From her viewpoint, the interior was blocked from view, so she cautiously approached, unsure of what to see. When she finally was able to glance in, she paused. Snatcher was there, right there. He looked...either slightly smaller or just less intimidating, and he was curled up on a big red chair, deep into a book. She nervously knocked on the side of the tree, hoping he wouldn't get mad being interrupted from his reading. “HMM?” he said, looking up from his book, “OH. IT'S YOU. WHAT BRINGS YOU BACK HERE SO QUICKLY? DON'T TELL ME YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER SOUL LINED UP FOR ME ALREADY?”

“First of all, my name's Abigail, a-”

“YEAH YEAH AND I'M SURE THAT OWL FROM YESTERDAY HAD A NAME TOO. BUT GUESS WHAT? I DON'T CARE. NOW DID YOU BRING ANOTHER VICTIM WITH YOU OR NOT?”

“I brought somebody with me, yes, but he's waiting back a ways for me to return. Said he was too scared. So I figured I'd tell him to wait, come find you, go back to him to tell him all is good, lead him right to you and...well...” she trailed off. “WOW. I'M ACTUALLY SORT OF IMPRESSED! WHO KNEW YOU COULD BE SUCH GOOD BAIT!” “Yeah yeah,” she waved it off, “but before I go I was hoping you could mark that part of my contract off? I'd rather not stick around for...what you've got planned...” “SURE THING!” the specter cheerily obliged, snapping his talons. She pulled the contract out and saw a little tally mark.

She started to leave before Snatcher stopped her, “I'VE GOT TO WONDER, WHY DID YOU COME TO MY FOREST IN THE FIRST PLACE?”

She looked back at him, “to learn about its history.”

“YOU COULD'VE JUST READ A BOOK.”

The history nerd in her started speaking up, “The history I want to learn about isn't written in books. Subcon's history ends with the last Ice Age. I was simply curious why nobody had tried to claim the land and fix it. Also why there were so many disappearances.” She paused, “well...you're the reason for the disappearances, but why is Subcon still like this? Why is it still so dead, even though the air is ripe with magic? There's a huge gap in the history of this forest, and I'm just a curious girl with a passion for history.”

“YOU'RE MORE LIKE A NUISANCE.” Snatcher thought for a moment, “TELL YOU WHAT. BRING AT LEAST ONE MORE VICTIM INTO MY FOREST, AND I'LL TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ITS PAST.” Abigail's eyes lit up, “really?!” “THINK OF IT AS AN INCENTIVE! THAT SHOULD GET YOU BRINGING OTHERS IN AT RECORD SPEED!” Abigail couldn't help but grin as she started to turn on her heel when she stopped, “wait a minute!” she spun around, “I know your game.” Snatcher froze, looking at her questioningly. Reaching into her jacket, she pulled out her contract. Giving him a smug look she stated, “I want that in writing. An addendum.” Snatcher gave a small laugh, “OH YOU ARE A NUISANCE! VERY WELL!” He flicked his hand and an addendum appeared on the contract stating that after the next delivery of a soul into the forest, Snatcher would tell her a bit of Subcon history. “DON'T EXPECT ANYTHING FROM WHEN PEOPLE WERE ALIVE,” he added, “I DIDN'T ARRIVE IN SUBCON UNTIL AFTER THE...INCIDENT.” He said the last word with a bit of anger. Abigail took pause to consider what that meant, before tucking it away to consider later. Instead, she gave a nod, “understood,” and left.

On the way back she remembered she had wanted to know more about those small creatures, but decided she could just ask him the next time they met.

All seemed to be going well....at least until she got back to where she had left the Mafia man, and found the place deserted. Her boat was still where she had left it, but no Mafia. 'No, no!' She thought 'I'm so close! Where could he have gone?'

Her thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of one of those hooded figures. “The boss says not to worry, he found your friend.” Abigail felt like her heart sopped. “D...did you know where 'my friend' was?” The little one happily nodded, “yeah! We lead him right to one of Boss's traps!” “Traps?”, the girl questioned, remembering those vines that appeared when she brought the owl. The other nodded, “yeah, Boss keeps traps around. Don't fall into one, he hates when that happens!”

Making heed of the little one's warning, she began to walk back to her boat. “Well, I've got to head home now.” Without waiting for a reply, she sprinted back to her vessel and jumped in. Before she roared the engine into life, she took a glance back into the forest.

The ...'Subconite' was gone.

Once back in Mafia Town, Abigail decided to tell the Mafia boss about the disaster of a trip. He...did not take it lightly.

“Because of YOU, the Mafia lost two members! What do you have to say for yourself?” “I'm sorry!,” she pleaded, well aware of the two Mafia behind her, blocking her only way out. She continued, “if you want, I'll go back on my own and-” “NO!” The Boss shouted, “you will pay! Mafia!” On cue, the two brutes behind her went in for the attack. Luckily, she was able to move out of the way fast enough to avoid capture, as well as slip past them and back outside. She heard the Boss call out, “Mafia! Attack!”

Running out of the Boss's main room back into the main casino area, she saw the entire place up in arms to get her. Luckily, since she worked there, she knew of a back exit. She scrambled into the kitchen, out the back door, and out the back of Mafia HQ.. Taking the secret entrance gave her maybe ten minutes before the rest of the Mafia made it down to the main streets, and then the whole town would be after her! Nobody messed with the Boss, and now she was on his hit list!

Luckily it didn't take long for her to get to her little house. She burst in, grabbing her backpack and stuffing all that she could find and fit into it. Her notebook, camera, some of her favorite books and some clothes. By the time she left her house, she heard a Mafia call out “there she is! Mafia stop you!”, and knew she had overstayed her welcome. She sprinted down the street away from the mob, using her fear to fuel her adrenaline to get her down to her boat before she got caught. As soon as she saw her boat, she also saw about five more Mafia around the docks, though by the looks of it they were just boxing fish, so they hadn't heard the call to arms. Thankful for the Mafia's bad form of communication, Abigail jumped into her boat, threw the rope off, and throttled the engine. With a roar and a splash of water, she was off! Looking back at Mafia Town, she saw a few Mafia standing near where her boat had been. They had just missed her.

Abigail was lost in thought as she made her way back to her boat. She had to force someone to take her place or suffer a truly horrible fate. She briefly pondered about taking another Mafia member; they were dumb enough to go with her...but the Boss...she couldn't go back to Mafia town. Not just yet. How was she gonna break the news that one of their guys was gone?And then ask them to come back with her? Not to mention Snatcher had mentioned how Mafia soul's weren't filling, or something. What if she brought back some Mafia, and the demon decided they weren't good enough? Then there were the goats and nomads of Alpine, but she didn't know how she would lure them. That just left Dead Bird Studios....

Now there was an idea! The moon penguins had probably barely even heard of Subcon, and those owls, while timid, were also very gullible! She could even tempt them with the idea of using Subcon as the next location for a movie, that'd be bound to get someone in to at least scope the place out! And all the contract said was she had to bring them to Subcon, right? She didn't have to hurt them or even bring them to Snatcher himself, right? She quickly pulled out the contract to skim it over again, confirming her thoughts. This was gonna be easy! She brings an owl into Subcon, gets free of her contract, and helps the owl leave before Snatcher can, well...snatch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arriving at Dead Bird Studios, she brought out the Bird ID that she had received from the Conductor (as a deal to let him into the Mafia Town bar) and walked up to the receptionist. “Evenin',” she greeted, “I'm here to see the Conductor.” The receptionist didn't even look up from his magazine, he just pushed a button and the door to her left opened. She thanked him and went inside, her plan forming in her mind.

She easily found the conductor talking with an owl and waving a script about in his...wing? Hand? Whatever. They clearly weren't filming at the moment, which meant he might actually listen to her.

“Hey Conductor,” she called out, jogging up to him, “I just got back from a trip to that dark forest at the edge of the desert, ya know, Subcon? And I thought it would make a great setting for a horror flick! Do you wanna come check it out?” Conductor looked her way for a moment before turning back to his script and waving her off with his wing, “nae, lass, I'm too busy wit me current filmin ter check out some old woods.”

“Well fine,” she huffed. “Maybe Grooves will want to go instead.”

That did the trick.

“Ohhh no ya don't lassie! I ain't gonna let that peck neck beat me! I'll go check out Subcon with ye.” She perked up, “really?!”

“Aye.”

“Great!, we can go after your shoot-” she began, starting to walk away. “Now hold on a min, lassie, I canne go taday.” The girl stopped in her tracks, and she turned back to him, “you can't?”

“Nae, lass. I got too much work ta do. How's de dae afta tomorrow sound?” She forced a smile and agreed, then left the Conductor to his work. She could still ask Grooves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Now darlin, as much as I appreciate the idea, a horror movie is just not what the audiences want!” The penguin answered when she asked him, “if the Conductor wants to make a horror flick, that's fine by me! I know what people really want to see!” He smirked at his own rhyme, then left her to go back to his directing.

She sighed, before heading back to Mafia town. Like it or not, it was her home.

Back in Mafia town, she hesitated outside the entrance to Mafia HQ. She had to report to the Boss what had happened, but what was she going to say? The truth? I'm sorry but your Mafia man got gobbled up by a ghost that only let me leave after signing away my own soul? She pondered for a moment before walking away, back to her own home.

The next day, still wanting to avoid the Mafia HQ, Abigail went back to Dead Bird Studios. It would make for a nice distraction, at least for awhile. She had just walked through the main doors when a loud Scottish voice called over to her “ah lass! Perfec' timin!” Conductor had been talking with some owls before he went over to her. “Abou' tha' forrrrest,” he began, “I'm sorry ter say that I won't be able ter accompany yew after all.” Abigail froze up for a moment, “you can't?”

“Nae,” the bird continued, “Word is that Grooooves is ahead in his filmin, and I'm not abou ta just sit back and let him release a new movie unchallenged!”

“I see.”

“But fret not lassie, I'm still interested in tha' forest. In fact I've already come up wit' a name fer a new movie, 'Ghost Train', an' dat place will be da perfec' settin'! Course I still need someone ter scope out da place...” the Conductor spun around and pointed at a random Express Owl, “you'll do!”, he cheered. The meek owl let out a small cry, “m-me?”

“Yea, you! Go w' the lass to tha' spoooooky fores' an' see if it's got what it takes ta be in one o' MY movies!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was that very afternoon that Abigail and the owl set out towards Subcon. The history buff was lost in thought, trying to think of a way for her plan to work. 'If I could just loose the owl in the woods long enough to find Snatcher and tell him that I bought someone in but 'lost' them, that will have completed the contract. Then I'd just need to sneak back to the owl and get him out!' It wasn't a good plan, but it was all she could come up with on short notice. She was pulled out of her thoughts by a feathery wing tugging her sleeve. She looked down at the owl who nervously pointed ahead, “a-are we sup-pp-posed to go in there?” She turned and was surprised to see Subcon straight ahead. How long had she been lost in thought? She squared her shoulders, it was time. “Yep. That's Subcon.” She felt the owl shake. “It's...it's ok,” she said, more to herself than to the owl, “we'll just go in, take a few pics, jot down a few notes, and be out lickity-split!” 'At least I hope so' she thought, as she lead the way into the darkness.

The trek though the forest was uneventful, at the start. The express owl was very timid; he kept looking over his shoulder as they ventured further into Subcon. “A-are you sure this is the right way?”

“You bet!”

She really didn't have a clue. She was trying to find a spot where she could quickly leave the bird and then find him again. Thinking back to her previous visit, the only place that stood out to her was Snatcher's tree, but that would be walking right into the lion's den!

A quick movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She paused, and motioned for the owl to stop as well. With a small hoot, he looked around like a trapped animal and whispered, “w-why'd we stop?” “I thought I saw something,” the girl muttered. If Snatcher was around, he wouldn't be dodging behind trees. She shook her head, “its probably nothing, let's keep going.”

It took two more instances of sensing something just out of sight that finally made Abigail stop long enough to think. Were they being followed? As if to answer her question, some nearby foliage rustled and out popped a....little cloaked figure. They were small, their face just a glow, hidden under a hood. The owl gave a yelp and hid behind Abigail, who's curiosity overrode her fear. Who was this?

The little figure gave a small wave up at her, “you must be the one the boss wants.” Abigail pointed to herself, “me?” The figure nodded, “yeah! Boss said if any of us saw you, to bring you right to him! And anyone who was with you as well!”

“Boss?” Abigail questioned, “...wait? Us?! There're more of you?” The little hooded one nodded before running ahead a little, then turning back to them, “c'mon! The boss hates to be kept waiting.” Completely dumbfounded, Abigail followed the small stranger, the Express Owl in tow. Abigail had a hunch who this 'boss' was, but was so wrapped up in questions that her previous rough escape plan had all but left her mind.

They didn't walk for very long before the figure stopped and turned, pointing at Abigail, “Boss says you should wait here.” It turned to the owl and grabbed his arm, starting to pull him away. The owl frantically struggled, calling for help and reaching back to Abigail, who, with a “Wh-hey!” started to run forward to grab him when she felt herself stopped. Looking down she saw about half a dozen more small identical-looking beings holding her back. She looked up to see four more pushing and pulling the owl-still crying for help-into some brush. Abigail started to call out, “Wai-!” when a bunch of thorny purple vines shot out of the ground around the owl and the others, completely sealing them from her view. What horrified her more, however, was the dead silence that immediately followed.

The ones holding her back had let go by this point, and she paused to gape at the vines before turning to question the newcomers, but found herself all alone. A noise made her look back at the vines, which were quickly retracting back into the ground, revealing Snatcher. A slight rustle from behind the specter caught Abigail's attention, and she noticed what looked like a couple of those figures running off carrying something heavy...

“I MUST SAY I'M IMPRESSED! I THOUGHT FOR SURE YOU WOULD HAVE BROUGHT ANOTHER OF THOSE DUMB BRUTES.” Abigail looked away in shame. Now two had suffered because of her. At least there would be no more victims...

“There,” Abigail huffed, “I completed my contract! Now relinquish my soul!” The specter laughed, “DO YOU REALLY THINK A SINGLE SOUL IS ENOUGH FOR ME? THAT WAS JUST A TRAIL RUN TO SEE IF YOU WERE UP TO SNUFF! AND GUESS WHAT? YOU PASSED!” With that, her contract flew out of her jacket and burned up in some blue flames. With a flourish, Snatcher poofed another contract and quill pen out of thin air. “HERE, LET'S SIGN ANOTHER CONTRACT!” Warily, Abigail glanced over this new parchment, which now ordered her to bring a new person to Subcon at least once a week for, “an entire month?!” She read, horrified. “THAT'S RIGHT!” Snatcher proclaimed, “AND HEY, THAT'S ANOTHER MONTH YOU GET TO LIVE! PROVIDED YOU MEET THE CONDITIONS ON THE CONTRACT, ANYWAY.”

Abigail trembled, frustration filling her chest. She glanced downcast and whispered “I can't.” She heard him sigh and looked up to see him looking back at her. Still smiling, always smiling, but his voice sounded a little dour. He flicked his wrist and a small golden ball of energy-Abigail's soul- formed in his hand. “IF YOU REFUSE TO SIGN, THEN YOU FORFEIT YOUR SOUL TO ME.” “Wait a minute!” Abigail sputtered, “I finished the initial contract! You have no claim over that anymore!” The ghost smirked at this and simply replied, “TOO BAD. I NEED SOULS, AND IF YOU WON'T BRING THEM TO ME THEN I DON'T NEED YOU AROUND. BUT HEY, I'M FEELING PRETTY GOOD RIGHT ABOUT NOW, SO I'LL GIVE YOU ONE MORE CHANCE.” His voice dropped to a deadly whisper, “SIGN. THE CONTRACT.”

Abigail's survival instincts kicked in and before she could even register what was going on she had already signed. Like before, the paper was stamped, rolled up and flew into her jacket pocket. Snatcher poofed her soul away with another flick of his wrist, before clapping his hands together, “WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS! I'LL EXPECT TO SEE YOU SOON! SMELL YOU LATER!” and dove into the ground. Not wanting to spend any longer around there than necessary, Abigail took her leave.

Her entire trip back she had racked her brain for solutions to her problem, to no avail, and by the time she got back to Mafia town, she had a headache. Before she could reach her house, however, she heard a “Stop!”. She turned to find a Mafia member, who continued, “Boss wants to know where you are. Boss says to report to him.” Abigail groaned, she really didn't feel like a confrontation, “tell the boss I'll see him bright and early tomorrow, ok?”

“Mafia agree to deliver message.”

The ride over was quick and quiet...if you ignored the roar of the engine. As Subcon came into view, Abigail noted it's dark and foreboding appearance...seemed that blizzard had melted away, leaving damp dark decay in its wake. She cut the engine and the boat drifted until it bumped against the banks. They both climbed out and the Mafia man waited while she tied her boat up, before turning to take in her first view of Subcon.

To sum it up: it was eerie. The trees were dead, the only sound the quiet buzzing of distant bugs and the ocean waves. No sunlight came through as they started to venture in; instead dark purple clouds swirled above. Glancing back towards the boat Abigail could see the ocean under a clear blue mid-day sky. She looked back up at the dark sky over the forest, before reaching into her bag and pulling out a notebook and pencil, taking notes.

Something flickered out of the corner of her eye. Looking up she noticed a glow, like from a fire. She turned to her companion, “let's head in,” she ordered, pointing towards the glow. The Mafia man looked frightened for a moment before hiding it behind an angry facade, nodding and following her. She was grateful that most mafia were the quiet types; she could focus on her studies without worrying about keeping up a conversation.

The moment they lost sight of the ocean the forest seemed to swallow them up. It grew darker and gloomier. A thin veil of fog rolled across their feet, but the glow grew brighter.

It didn't take very long to reach an opening in the trees, where the glow, which actually was from a fire, was burning bright. Around the flames danced....what appeared to be foxes made of fire. Fire Spirits!, Abigail thought, quickly taking more notes. She had read about them in the older history books; apparently the spirits had been in Subcon even before the tragedy. The foxes ignored the newcomers, dancing around their fire. Abigail started to approach when the Mafia man let out a cry. She turned to find him staring at....something. It floated in the air, and looked like a snake wearing a mask. A Subcon mask! Abigail thought with amazement. It was something the young children of Subcon wore when they left the house to keep spirits from stealing them! Abigail was more fascinated by ghosts than she was scared., and was taking notes like a madwoman. She was about to reach for her camera when the mask wearing specter floated closer to the Mafia man, who quickly took off, running even further into the forest, a terrified “NOOOOOOOOO!” echoing in his wake. Stuffing her notebook back into her bag she took off after him; she couldn't be left alone out here!

Unfortunately the forest had other plans. As she ventured deeper in, more noises started to fill the silence. Crinkling leaves, a babbling brook, crows and the soft crackle of more fire masked the sound of the other's frantic footsteps. As she continued to run, the scenery started to change. Less trees sprang up, and there were more....man made objects about, though nooses and tombstones were not the most inviting things to look at. She even found a few structures that looked to be abandoned tree houses. She came to a stop to catch her breath and tried to listen again for the Mafia man. This forest was a lot bigger than she had initially thought, and she hoped for a sign from her companion to lead her in the right direction. The forest had grown quiet again and she strained her ears for any signs of life....which she quickly got in a distant scream that rent the still air. She knew it was from the Mafia man, and she quickly made haste in that direction, grabbing her army knife and flicking the switchblade open. She had hoped to avoid confrontation, but was prepared for it nonetheless.

The scream had stopped abruptly, yet she continued to run in the direction it came from. Her chest hurt, her legs burned. She wasn't out of shape, but strolling around Mafia Town was vastly different then sprinting through a forest. She ran up a hill, only to have the crest of it end at a steep, though thankfully short, drop off. With a small scream she slipped, dropping the knife and falling off. She lay there until the treetops stopped spinning, than sat up and took assessment of the damage. A small bruise on her arm, a rip in her jean and a scrape on her knee. Nothing broken, thank Cod. She got to her feet, dusting herself off and paused to take in her new surroundings. More of those nooses, some bushes and what looked like the remains of some stone structures. “This place is hauntingly beautiful” she said aloud, gazing up at the night sky, the stars twinkling between deep purple clouds.

“IT SURE IS.”

Her heart started to beat rapidly against her rib cage. She slowly turned her head to see a giant glowing, grinning shadow, who was projecting itself on a rocky outcropping. It's only features were its eyes and mouth, all of which glowed a bright yellow.

“I HAVEN'T SEEN A LIVING SOUL IN THESE WOODS FOR QUITE A LONG TIME! THERE USED TO BE SEARCH PARTIES FOR THOSE WHO GOT LOST. FOOD WAS PLENTIFUL BACK THEN. NOW, LOOK AT ME! A MERE SHADOW OF MY FORMER SELF!”

Composing herself from being startled, she retorted “People stopped coming because nobody ever came back. Speaking of, did you see a burly guy run through here?”

“I DID. HE TOOK ONE LOOK AT ME AND DIED OF FRIGHT! SAVED ME THE EFFORT OF KILLING HIM, AND PERFECT TIMING TOO! I WAS FAMISHED!

Abigail covered her mouth with her hand and proclaimed, in a terrified whisper, “you ate him?!”

“THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE WRONG! I DON'T EAT PEOPLE! THEIR SOULS, ON THE OTHER HAND,” and with that he held up his hand, and she could see a small whispy shadowy blob in his claws, “LIKE YOUR FRIEND'S HERE...”

She could only watch in horror as the shadow threw the soul in its mouth and swallowed it whole. He began to glow purple around his outline, and the girl continued to watch, frozen in terror, as this soul snatching demon literally pulled himself out of the wall. As he manifested, she realized just how tall he was as he towered over her.

“CERTAINLY NOT THE BEST I'VE EVER HAD, BUT IT GAVE ME ENOUGH STRENGTH TO REMATERIALIZE! NOW YOUR SOUL, -”

She turned to flee, only to run smack into a purple barrier that bubbled up around them. “TRYING TO RUN AWAY?!” The ghost's tone went dark as he swooped down to see her face-to-face. She met his gaze and visibly trembled. The specter's grin widened before he stood back up, towering over her again, and started to cackle maniacally,

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL! DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU COULD ESCAPE MY FOREST!?”

Before he could continue, an impulsive thought struck Abigail, and the girl blurted out, “if you let me go, it'll prove that people CAN leave here alive! A-and then people might start coming back...” she trailed off, silently pleading for this to work...

The creature seemed to consider this, raising a claw to his chin, before suddenly snapping his talons. “SOUNDS LIKE A PRETTY GOOD DEAL! LET'S MAKE IT OFFICIAL!” He raised a hand and the barrier dissipated. Before she could even register that her plan had actually worked, a couple thorny vines shot up from the ground and wound themselves around her wrists, snapping off from their stems and effectively handcuffing her. The specter was already floating away, and the cuffs magically pulled her along behind. This wasn't what she had planned!

In a short while they came to a hollowed out tree, slightly furnished into what looked like a comfy sitting room. The ghoul entered, the handcuffed girl still being pulled along. “HAVE A SEAT, MAKING A NEW CONTRACT CAN TAKE AWHILE,” the ghost said, rifling through some papers on a nearby table.

She was still confused and frightened by all that had transpired in the short time since she arrived. She let the cuffs lead her to a footrest, while she tried to sort her thoughts: How had her plan backfired so badly?! All she had wanted was to investigate this place. Now she was at the mercy of a soul-hungry specter, and already someone had paid the ultimate price on her behalf!

She sat there, fidgeting for awhile. The stress of her situation was starting to finally take its toll on her, and the adrenaline was wearing off as she was realizing that if he had wanted her dead, she would already be. She curled up on the futon and closed her eyes to try and calm her mind down, focusing on the sounds of the strange crackling magical fire that lined the forest, and the scratching of pen on paper...

“WAKE UP!”

The soul snatcher screamed in her ear while pushing her off the footrest. The girl yelped as she fell, smacking her nose onto the floor. She sat up, rubbing it, the handcuffs gone since who knew when. She glared up at the spook, who only grinned mischievously back at her. “I HOPE YOU GOT YOUR BEAUTY REST, CAUSE IT'S TIME TO GET DOWN TO BUSINESS! WHILE YOU WERE SNOOZING AWAY I WAS BUSY WHIPPING UP A FRESH NEW CONTRACT! JUST FOR YOU!”

With that, a parchment of paper and quill pen floated over to her. She hesitantly grabbed hold of the paper, which stated that she had to bring someone else into Subcon forest by the end of the week. The only areas of the forest she would be allowed were within the firewalls, and at the bottom of the paper, it clearly stated that he would be taking her soul. Flipping it over she found more print, which apart from some legalities, told her this being's name was actually Snatcher, which seemed fitting.

Finding her voice, and just a touch of boldness, she looked up at him, “c-can we...make an alteration?” Snatcher's smile twitched, “I SUPPOSE ITS ABOUT THE 'TAKING YOUR SOUL THING, RIGHT?” She nodded, “TOO BAD, THAT'S HOW I WORK! NOW EITHER SIGN THE CONTRACT OR I'LL MAKE YOUR DEAD AND HOLLOWED BODY SIGN IT FOR YOU!”

She immediately grabbed the quill and scribbled her name across the parchment. The moment the quill left the paper, a purple stamp bearing the Snatcher's face appeared next to her signature. The contract rolled itself up and slipped into her jacket pocket. Snatcher cackled with laughter, “THAT SEALS THE DEAL! JUST ONE LAST THING!” Several bolts of weird purple lighting struck her at once, sending her to her knees, more out of shock then actual agony. Panting, she managed to look back up in time to see the demon holding a golden ball of energy. Her soul. Snatcher gazed hungrily at it, and she shuddered, before finding her voice again, “Hey now, we have a deal! Don't eat that!”